The present invention relates to an organic EL display apparatus, and more particularly, to a sealing structure for securing a sealing plate using an adhesive in such a manner that the sealing plate covers an organic EL display unit formed on a substrate.
Organic electro-luminescence (hereinafter called “organic EL”) display apparatuses which make use of a light emitting phenomenon of organic substance have been progressively developed in recent years as display apparatuses of next generation by virtue of their advantageous features over liquid crystal displays and plasma displays, including increasingly more potential reduction in thickness, wider angle of view, higher luminance, higher definition, low power consumption, and the like. Organic EL display apparatuses have been commercially available for displays of a variety of electronic devices, for example, a television set, a car navigation system, a portable terminal, and the like.
Such an organic EL display apparatus comprises a display screen which is constructed by forming a light emitting element (organic EL element) on a pixel-by-pixel basis so as to sandwich an organic substance, which serves as a light emitter, between both negative and positive electrodes, and arranging these light emitting elements over a two-dimensional plane. A display unit which includes these multiple organic EL elements so arranged is hermetically sealed by covering the display unit with a sealing plate made of glass, metal or the like. Such hermetic sealing is required because organic EL materials generally tend to be affected by moisture, and the light emitting elements would be deteriorated if they were exposed to external air, leading to detrimental effects on the display quality and lifetime of the products.
For reference, Japanese Patent No. 4114895 and JP-A-2007-273409 disclose such organic EL display apparatuses and techniques related to sealing structures.